They

found Bailey! Grisel Jaramillos father cheered through the phone.

Her heart soared.

I pictured in my mind getting this phone call one day, 29-year-old Jaramillo said. But I
never thought it would actually happen.

Moments before the call, she sat in lecture. It was September 2014, the beginning of her last
year of nursing school at Austin Community College. Graduation was around the corner and
she sat listening to the professors booming voice.

Jaramillo doesnt like to be on her phone during lecture, but her phone lit up with two
missed calls one from an Indiana number and the other from her dad.

It was unusual for her to get a call from her dad. He never called unless it was important. It
was a part of his nature, something he picked up from being on the El Paso police force for
more than 25 years.

She sent a quick text saying that she was in class and would call him afterward. He texted
back: Call me.

She slipped out of the auditorium, her mind reeling. She knew it had to be an emergency
and started anticipating grim news.

But when she called back, thats when she heard the words: They found Bailey!

Tears flooded her face.

Bailey was Jaramillos Yorkshire terrier that went missing six years ago. He escaped
through an open door in her Austin home.

We dont know if someone left the door open, she said. We dont know who, what and
how. We dont know anything that happened.

But Bailey was in Indianapolis, she learned. Her dad wanted to fly out there right now.
Heck, she wanted to fly out there right now, but she couldnt make any rash decisions she
had a family and school to think about. But she did want Bailey home soon.

He meant the world to her even after all these years. He was never just a dog.

It was December 2008 and Jaramillo went home for lunch from work less than a mile away.
She entered through the door and walked over to her 6-month-old son, who had been
home with his dad, sister and visiting aunt. It was time for her son to be fed. This was
Jaramillos lunch routine go home, feed her son, go back to work. But the seemingly
ordinary day drastically changed when Bailey was nowhere to be found inside the house.

Jaramillos husband, Jason, their 3-year-old daughter and Jaramillos sister had no clue
where the beloved Yorkie had gone.

They started searching for him immediately. They loaded into their 1999 red Ford Taurus
and drove around the neighborhood calling out for him. They then walked around the
neighborhood, knocking on every door, asking if anyone had seen a small black and gold
dog wandering the streets. The only lead came when they stopped a jogger, who
remembered seeing a small dog being picked up off the street by someone in a maroon car.

Jaramillo asked the jogger to take them to the spot where he saw it happen. He led them to
a corner house. The yard looked out toward the deserted streets, only a stop sign disrupted
the vacancy of the neighborhood. It was Jaramillos yard.

They called the police and took their search to the shelters in Austin and Round Rock. She
remembers having her hopes up walking in and feeling crushed when there was no Bailey
waiting for her inside the endless rows of kennels.

They coated lampposts with lost dog flyers. A portrait of Bailey was placed on the center of
the glossy pale yellow paper, his body filling the picture as he sat frozen in time. Listed
below were his breed, color, weight and name - Please call, it simply read, REWARD. They
kept a flyer; a reminder of the day Jaramillo lost her best friend, old roommate and the tiny
ring bearer at her wedding.

On May 6, 2006, Bailey perched on the dining table amidst a pile of tulle and ribbon.
Jaramillo adjusted his tuxedo. His owners hair was an elegant mass of curls with two white
flowers accenting the ringlets. In her strapless white gown and white chandelier necklace,
she wanted her ring bearer to be aisle ready.

When the ceremony started, Bailey trotted down the aisle in his black tuxedo along to
Pachelbels Canon. Standing at about 6.5 inches, he was among the wedding party of
family and friends.

Some people may have thought, shes a little bit over the top, she said. But all I knew is
that I wanted him there on my special day.

Nowadays, she understands the circumstances are different. She is a mother of three. She
has a 9-year-old, 6-year-old, and a 1-year-old. But Bailey was able to witness his owner
transform from college student to newlywed to a new mother. He was her oldest friend.

In March 2004, Jaramillo was a freshman at the University of Texas at El Paso. Balancing
her classes, cheerleading, and her job as a bartender kept her busy something she needed
after the sudden death of her first pet Yorkie, Scribbles.

It broke her heart. She always dreamed of having a Yorkie since her first job at a gardening
center in her hometown of El Paso. Sixteen-year-old Jaramillo was outside watering plants

when a couple came perusing through the lush green shrubberies with a little black and
gold puppy in tow.

The couple had let her carry the puppy. Its silky fur spilled over her fingers as she brought
it closer to her chest. This was the first time she had ever seen a Yorkie the first time she
knew that she could not have a home without one.

Her friends stepped in to help. Together, they got in contact with an elderly couple that
bred Yorkies in El Paso. The breeders puppies were born from American Kennel Club show
dogs; their rich lineage made them an expensive breed.

Jaramillo saved up her bartending money and her friends chipped in to help her purchase a
tiny male puppy from the litter, one with a big journey in store.

The nickname, mans best friend, derives from the close-knit bonds formed between
domestic dogs and humans for about 15,000 years. Dogs have adapted so well to living
within a human household that the owner can become the dogs main social partner,
according the researchers. Their peaceful coexistence has demonstrated that canine-
human relationships are more than meets the eye.

Dr. Lisa Horn, a scientist at the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna, sought out to
explore the bond between dog and owner in 2013. Horn wanted to look into the secure
base effect, a term that is commonly associated with parent-child relationships. The
secure base effect simply means that the parent functions as a secure base for the child
to gain confidence in interacting in different environments.

Dr. Horn revealed that this parent-child effect is seen in dog-owner relationships. In her
experiment, she discovered that dogs need their owner in order for them to behave in a
confident manner.

This revelation provides justification for the owners that feel their pet is their child like
Jaramillo.

She unapologetically admits that having Bailey gone from her life was similar to missing a
child. Only animals lovers will understand, she said.

Three years after purchasing Bailey, shed bring a female Yorkie to her family, Dixie. The
Yorkies went everywhere with Jaramillo and they always received attention.

During her many outings with her husband, Dixie and Bailey were nestled in her purse. A
man approached them. His girlfriend admired the dogs and he was willing to pay $6,000 for
them. Jaramillo was stunned at the large amount but did not consider it.

She was accustomed to receiving offers for her dogs and getting questioned about whether
she was planning to breed them.

I could never breed them, she said, laughing at the thought. Because I wouldnt be able to
sell the puppies. I would want to keep them all!

But when Bailey went missing all these questions and offers stayed at the back of her mind.
She feared that whoever took him had the intention to breed him but he was neutered.
About a month prior to his disappearance, 4-year-old Bailey was neutered and
microchipped. The microchip, an electronic ID tag, promised Bailey would be returned if
he went missing.

During the six years of Baileys absence, Jaramillo doubted the microchip worked.

Bailey was 10 years old, a mess of matted fur and a very long way from home. His one
thousand mile journey led him to Indianapolis, trotting down the cluster of suburban
streets clenching a meatless pork chop bone in his mouth.

Fifty-year-old Pam Hardy happened to be looking out the window when Bailey strolled past
her home. She loved dogs and the sight of the stray pulled at her heartstrings, compelling
her to pluck the pooch from the dangers of the outside world.

Hardy wanted to keep the little Yorkie she saved from the streets, but she had Tyson, her
Chihuahua-Jack Russell mix, and her cat, Miss Kitty. Her husband said it was a bad idea to
take on another pet and she reluctantly agreed, saying goodbye to the Yorkie, her dream
dog. She decided to take the dog to an animal hospital a mile and a half up the road.

But this would not be the last time Hardy would see Bailey. Bailey, with the tip of his
tongue poking out behind his furry lips, would be pictured on the front page of The
Indianapolis Star with Hardy. The newspapers image would be posted on Hardys
Facebook timeline by a friend who recognized the smiling face, framed by chin-length hair
and wire-framed glasses

So glad you are finally getting the recognition you deserve, one of her friends commented
under the picture. I have been mad at Channel 8 for not mentioning you in their
newscasts.

She would receive compliments for taking the dog to the hospital the sole reason for the
pet reunion.

The building on the corner of the bustling Pendleton Pike in Indianapolis, with its faded
brick red exterior and chocolate brown roof, resembles a home. However, the paved
parking lot and the seven-foot business sign reading, Post Pet Hospital standing to the far
left hinted otherwise.

Bailey entered through the double glass doors of the hospital in the arms of Pam and now
he laid in the care of Dr. Randall Grosser and his team. Veterinary technician Diana
Redmond doubted the Yorkie had a home. His fur was in knots, fleas riddled the surface of
his body and his teeth were a source of a long list of problems ranging from tartar to gum

recession. The belief that this small dog had been microchipped was slim.

Microchipping means inserting a small electronic chip under the skin of your pet. When
scanned, the microchip gives off a unique number referencing to an online registry that
stores the owners contact information.

The veterinarian from a San Antonio pet clinic demonstrated how the microchipping
procedure worked by pulling the skin tautly at the base of the dogs neck as he mimicked
injecting a microchip with a needle. The chip, about the size of a grain of rice, would rest
snuggly between a dogs shoulder blades. This method had grown in popularity since the
1990s.

The clinics then register the chip number to the registry. Empancipet, a low-cost clinic
located in Austin, registers the microchips number to HomeAgain, a lost pet recovery
service, which allows owners to create their dogs profile in their pet database. Along with a
description of the dog, the owner is able to upload a photo of their pet. Most importantly,
they fill out their contact information and even an alternate person of contact. This ensures
that if the owner could not be reached, there was another person to get in touch with if the
dog was found.

The employees of Post Pet Hospital cleaned up Bailey and gave him antibiotics. Following
protocol, they grabbed the microchip scanner and waved it across Baileys shoulder blades.
To their surprise, the scanner detected a microchip and his registration number appeared
on the scanners small window. The stray Yorkie had a home in the Lone Star State. It was a
home that had been wondering where he was for the last six years.

They called the first number, no answer. They called the second number listed, Jaramillos
father, and left a voicemail.

Hours later, they received a call back from a frantic Jaramillo.

They recall how she could barely talk. She apologized for not making any sense with her
bursts of sentences that shared how overwhelmed she felt and how Bailey was family.

After a long day, Bailey settled in the lap of one of the Post Pet veterinarian technicians. He
was flea-free and freshly bathed. The vet tech remembers how he just flopped over and fell
asleep instantly. She knew it was the first time he had fallen asleep comfortably in a while,
said the vet tech in an interview with WTHR.

For Jaramillo, The thought of Bailey in Indiana not only made her heart flip but had her
remembering a vague dream from years ago. The details are fuzzy as most dreams go, but
one detail that has not left was the connection to Indiana. She describes it as insignificant,
something so minor, but this news made her wonder.

She laughs, Its so silly.

But no one knows the story behind Baileys long journey, aside from Bailey. Jaramillo and
her family assume it all started with the person in the maroon car.

Dr. Randal Grosser said in an interview with the Indy Star, that even though Bailey came in
with a handful of medical issues, he was not emaciated. This suggested Bailey had decent
care sometime ago. The Yorkie was friendly and outgoing and showed no signs of abuse. At
sometime, someone had taken care of Bailey as his or her own pet.

Within a week of Baileys discovery, word spread about the impending reunion with the
help of Indiana and Austin news stations. Pictures of Bailey flooded the Internet and a man
reached out to an Indiana reporter saying he was the former owner of Bailey. Unsure of this
mans statement, the reporter did not press the matter further, but notified Jaramillo of the
new information. She agreed. They did not need to continue speaking to him.

The man then reached out to Jaramillo through her neighbor, whom she had no contact
with. His determination to reach her made her feel uncomfortable, as she later discovered
that he Google searched her street and found her neighbors number online. She decided to
call him to find out what he wanted. Through a phone call, the man told Jaramillo his 19-
year-old son owned Bailey and they received the Yorkie from an army man. The caller
thought it would be a wonderful idea if she reached out to his son. Jaramillo declined.

She did not know whether he was truthful or searching for publicity but either way the
call upset her. She thought of how Bailey was snatched from her front yard and his
condition when he was found on the streets. She just wanted to revel in having her dog
back not further the media coverage.

I said, were very happy to have him back. Were happy. Thats it. I kind of put an end to
that. Jaramillo said.

Since Bailey had been gone, his Texas home changed. His family which was a young
couple with a 3-year-old daughter, a newborn baby, and his best friend Dixie had grown.
Jaramillo and Jason Jaramillo had another child in the past year, Dixie had died and Bicks
was a new Yorkie in the household.

But no matter how much the family grew, Jaramillo always wanted Bailey to find his way
back. And now, she was a step closer to bringing him home.

Danielle Emerson Beck, founder of website Indy Lost Pet Alert, created a crowd-funding
campaign to return Bailey to Texas. Animal lovers did not hesitate to lend a helping hand.

In 10 days -- 1,200 Facebook shares later - the page raised $1,260. Within that time frame,
an Indiana resident was flying to Austin for business and offered to take Bailey along. The
raised funds now went toward Baileys medical bills for his teeth and Jaramillo promised
that any money left over would be donated to an Austin animal organization.

On Sept. 25, 2014, a crowd of passengers returning from their travels occupied the

escalator at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. They all descended slowly and at the
bottom waited a crowd of camera crew from various news stations and papers. Baffled, the
passengers looked around trying to uncover the star in their midst. But Robyn Gretzinger
did not need to look around. The 32-year-old publicist from Indiana clutched the star in her
right arm. Robyn grinned as the escalator took her closer to his owner.

Jaramillo wore a pink T-shirt and aqua sweat pants as she stood at the base of the escalator.
She began to squeeze a squeaky toy at the sight of her long-lost Yorkie. The camera crew
flocked around Jaramillo, who had been pacing back and forth for the entirety of her wait
and fidgeting with her phone as journalists questioned how she felt.

With a faint quiver in her voice she answered, I just hope he remembers me.

Robyn approached Jaramillo and transferred Bailey into her arms.

Hey Bailey, Jaramillo greeted. Bailey responded by licking his owners face. She began to
cry.

Seven months later, Jaramillo still has a Facebook inbox full of messages from people
sharing their happiness about the reunion and their stories of hope to be reunited with
their missing pet.

Shes posted pictures and videos of Baileys life back home, such as him nuzzling open his
Christmas bone wrapped in purple tissue paper, Bailey barking at waving windshield
wipers on a family road trip and of course, the picture of the bone-shaped Welcome
Home cake he received on his first day back. She enjoys keeping people updated on his
adventures, especially for those individuals still hoping for their own reunion those that
are obsessed with their pets, just as much as she is.

Its a life thats been a part of your life, Jaramillo said.

She has received an assortment of gifts, from dog clothing to Kong Incorporated toys to a
box of custom-made dog treats crafted into red heels and yellow squares.

The message accompanied read: Theres no place like home.